Self-righteousness is a loud din raised to drown the voice of guilt within us. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
There is a guilty conscience behind every brazen word and act and behind every manifestation of self-righteousness. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Self-contempt, however vague, sharpens our eyes for the imperfections of others. We usually strive to reveal in others the blemishes we hide… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
A successful social technique consists perhaps in finding unobjectionable means for individual self-assertion. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
We probably have a greater love for those we support than for those who support us. Our vanity carries more weight than… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The self-despisers are less intent on their own increase than on the diminution of others. Where self-esteem is unobtainable, envy takes the… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
It is our talents rusting unused within us that secrete the poison of self-doubt into our bloodstream. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Excesses are essentially gestures. It is easy to be extremely cruel, magnanimous, humble or self-sacrificing when we see ourselves as actors in… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Only the individual who has come to terms with his self can have a dispassionate attitude toward the world. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Vehemence is the expression of a blind effort to support and uphold something that can never stand on its own. Whether it… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Man staggers through life yapped at by his reason, pulled and shoved by his appetites, whispered to by fears, beckoned by hopes.… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Unlike the pattern which seems to prevail in the rest of life, in the human species the weak not only survive but… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The impression somehow prevails that the true believer, particularly the religious individual, is a humble person. The truth is that the surrendering… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The capacity for getting along with our neighbor depends to a large extent on the capacity for getting along with ourselves. The… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The revulsion from an unwanted self, and the impulse to forget it, mask it, slough it off and lose it, produce both… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The ruthlessness born of self-seeking is ineffectual compared with the ruthlessness sustained by dedication to a holy cause. God wishes, said Calvin,… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
You accept certain unlovely things about yourself and manage to live with them. The atonement for such an acceptance is that you… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
[The designated or chosen leader tries to] articulate and justify the resentment dammed up in the souls of the frustrated. He kindles… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The chief burden of the frustrated is the consciousness of a blemished, ineffectual self, and their chief desire is to slough off… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The untalented are more at ease in a society that gives them valid alibis for not achieving than in one where opportunities… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Poverty when coupled with creativeness is usually free of frustration. This is true of the poor artisan skilled in his trade and… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The weak are not a noble breed. Their sublime deeds of faith, daring, and self-sacrifice usually spring from questionable motives. The weak… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The real "haves" are they who can acquire freedom, self-confidence, and even riches without depriving others of them. They acquire all of… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
In man's life, the absence of an essential component usually leads to the adoption of a substitute. The substitute is usually embraced… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The leader personifies the certitude of the creed and the defiance and grandeur of power. He articulates and justifies the resentment damned… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The short-lived self, teetering on the edge of extinction, is the only thing that can ever really matter. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The burning conviction that we have a holy duty toward others is often a way of attaching our drowning selves to a… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
It needs some intelligence to be truly selfish. The unintelligent can only be self-righteous. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
We have to adjust ourselves, and every radical adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem: we undergo a test, we have to prove… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
It is not love of self but hatred of self which is at the root of the troubles that afflict our world. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The act of self-denial seems to confer on us the right to be harsh and merciless toward others. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The urge to escape our real self is also an urge to escape the rational and the obvious. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
People whose lives are barren and insecure seem to show a greater willingness to obey than people who are self-sufficient and self-confident.… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Our doubts about ourselves cannot be banished except by working at that which is the one and only thing we know we… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
Our originality shows itself most strikingly not in what we wholly originate but in what we do with that which we borrow from others. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
The creative mind is the playful mind. Philosophy is the play and dance of ideas. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
It is also plausible that those movements with the greatest inner contradiction and between profession and practice - that is to say with a… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
“In the alchemy of man's soul almost all noble attributes--courage, honor, love, hope, faith, duty, loyalty, etc.--can be transmuted into ruthlessness. Compassion alone stands… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
The act of self-denial seems to confer on us the right to be harsh and merciless toward others. The impression somehow prevails that the… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
A nation without dregs and malcontents, is orderly, decent, peaceful and pleasant, but perhaps without the seed of things to come — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
Compassion alone stands apart from the continuous traffic between good and evil proceeding within us. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
There are many who find a good alibi far more attractive than an achievement. For an achievement does not settle anything permanently. We still… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
Man is the only creature that strives to surpass himself, and yearns for the impossible. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
This food-and-shelter theory concerning man's efforts is without insight. The desire for praise is more imperative than the desire for food and shelter — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
![“[The designated or chosen leader tries to] articulate and justify the resentment dammed up in the souls of the frustrated. He kindles the vision of a breathtaking future so as to justify the sacrifice of a transitory present. He stages the world of make-believe so indispensable for the realization…” quote by Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/6e6/eric-hoffer-343_action_the-designated-or-chosen-leader-tries-to_2033811.jpg)
